That night, two things happened in the city. One was that all the local families stayed up all night, which had not happened for a long time.
You have to know that the major families control all the ordinary people in the local area. The only way to win some opportunities to make money is to be obedient to them.
Otherwise, you can only go to the deep mountains and forests and work hard to get the money you need for a year.
The local plains are very scarce and are controlled by a few major families. They have the best way to control the people by deciding who to rent the land to and who not to rent it to. If they don't rent it to you this year, you can only try your luck in the mountains, but the annual death rate is extremely high, at least over 30%.
The second thing was that Ruan Yuanjia's wife died. Everyone knew that Ruan Yuanjia's wife liked to listen to operas. But who would have thought that when she was returning home after listening to the opera, there was a poisonous snake in the sedan chair, and this poisonous snake bit Ruan Yuanjia's wife, and she died that night.
In such a place, poisonous snakes can be found everywhere, but there are not many cases of them biting or injuring people, especially among officials and their families. The main reason is that they can afford to buy some medicine and carry it with them. This medicine has a pungent smell, so poisonous snakes generally avoid it.
Even if a family does not have much money, they will find ways to get a batch. After all, it concerns the life and death of their family. No one dares to save money on this. What you save may be your life.
Ruan Yuanjia had a very good relationship with his wife, so how could he be reluctant to spend money on her?
But his wife died here. That night, Ruan Yuanjia sent all the people in the house out, hoping to invite a doctor. But unfortunately, all the doctors seemed to have made an agreement and they all went out to see the patient. So even if Ruan Yuanjia sent all the people in the house out, he could only watch his wife die of poisoning.
At dawn the next day, Li Xiang received a report from his subordinates that Ruan Yuanjia was kneeling at the gate of the camp with his three children. He was very scared and trembling all over.
Huo Qubing also reported to Li Xiang about the situation in the city yesterday. Although they often passed by several prefectures on the border when they went to Zhenla, they had never been in there because they were carrying out bandit missions at the time. They didn't know much about the situation in the city. If he had known that it was so complicated here, Huo Qubing would definitely have investigated the surrounding area thoroughly.
Of course, it’s no use saying this now. We can only explore it bit by bit.
"Put his three children in a safe place. Also, send someone to protect him. It's best to get more locals. Outsiders won't be familiar with the local situation and could easily take advantage of him."
Li Xiang knew that these people were not trying to intimidate Ruan Yuanjia, but were demonstrating to him.
In the eyes of these people, Ruan Yuanjia is just a dog. He used to work for them and now he works for Li Xiang.
But no matter what, this guy doesn't have much weight in their eyes. We can deal with you if we want. Even the people who carry your wife's sedan chair have been bribed by us. We can know what you ate and wrote last night at the first time. Why should we be afraid of a useless local official like you?
"General Huo, please let me meet His Highness. Those people are really capable of anything. We've had two local officials in the past three years. Although I've been in office longer, I don't have any power at all."
Huo Qubing also noticed this. When everyone met yesterday, Ruan Yuanjia glared at those people, hoping to stop their stupid behavior, but unfortunately, although they saw Ruan Yuanjia's eyes, they still did not do what Ruan Yuanjia wanted.
If they were really Ruan Yuanjia's subordinates, would they dare to disregard their superiors' opinions like this?
"Your Highness won't see useless people. Your Highness is very busy every day. If you can't even deal with these people, do you still think about rising in the future? Your wife died like this, don't you want to avenge her?"
Huo Qubing despised the man in front of him very much. His wife was killed by someone, but instead of thinking about avenging his wife first, he actually wanted Li Xiang to give him a safe place to stay. Now he didn't even dare to go back into the city.
"But those people are all from the local aristocratic families. They have infiltrated the local area too deeply. Although I live in the government office, the servants in my house have been infiltrated by them. If I go back now, I might be poisoned to death by them."
Ruan Yuanjia said fearfully, "Although his wife died at the hands of those people, he had thought about revenge for her, but the question was how to do it? If the plan wasn't good, let alone revenge, he might even die here."
"Then what's the point of you staying here? You're of no use to us, so how could we possibly let you stay? Allowing your three children to stay here is already the greatest kindness His Highness has shown you. Besides, didn't I give you 200 guards? Take them with you to do what you should do, and don't underestimate their fighting ability."
Huo Qubing pointed at the guards in the distance. Originally, they had agreed on 300 people, but according to the reconnaissance of his men, the combat effectiveness of the army in the city was not very good. If they wasted 300 soldiers, it would also damage their dignity. 200 people were enough.
Ruan Yuanjia looked at the soldiers behind him with some difficulty. Although he also wanted to make achievements and wanted His Highness Tyson to see his abilities, when he thought of these local aristocratic families, Ruan Yuanjia seemed to have no strength at all. If it weren't for a soldier next to him supporting him, this guy would have fallen to the ground long ago.
Although he was scared to death in his heart, he understood what Huo Qubing said just now. If he didn't go to work, even his three children would not have the chance to live here, and they would most likely be kicked out.
Ruan Yuanjia was very clear about how ruthless the local aristocratic families were. Once these three children followed him and ended up on the streets, that would be the time for them to take action. They would not care about children or the elderly. As long as they posed a threat to them, they would all be killed.
